So you want to become a receptionist but you’ve never worked in reception before? This situation can be problematic. Many employers are looking for receptionists with experience, who can get straight to work without a lengthy training period. But this doesn’t mean it’s going to be impossible for you to become a receptionist.
Everyone starts their career with no experience, so how does someone inexperienced get their foot in the door of this industry?
Let us guide you through the steps you can take to increase your chances of getting hired as a receptionist, despite your lack of experience…
You can prove your capabilities by earning certification
While you can’t reel off a list of previous employment to prove you’re a capable receptionist, you can learn the skills required of the job, so you’ll know exactly what to do when you score that dream job.
Many of the abilities needed can be learned yourself. For instance, you can perfect your telephone manner and brush up on your IT skills, but how do you prove this to a potential employer?
Simply listing your skills is one thing, but if you have a certification that offers solid proof that your claims are valid, then you’re a huge step ahead of anyone who hasn’t taken this route.
Now you may think that earning a certification in receptionist skills will be time-consuming and expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Here at the Receptionist Institute our most popular receptionist certification course is just $247.
You don’t need a degree level qualification to work as a receptionist, and so you can easily take a shorter, lower-cost course that will be sufficient to impress recruiters as it verifies your claims of being skilled in all areas of reception work, despite your lack of prior experience.
In addition, it will give you the knowledge and confidence to perform well when you do find employment.
Sometimes, having these skills without previous on-the-job experience can actually be attractive to employers who are looking to hire someone who will work their way, rather than bringing in their habits from previous jobs.
A fresh hire that can be molded to suit the position, rather than a highly experienced receptionist who is set in their ways, can have its advantages. You just never quite know what an employer is looking for, but a certificate with which to prove your credentials is always going to be beneficial and can help negate your lack of experience.
Experience can be gained in many ways
Just because you have never worked as a receptionist doesn’t mean you don’t already have relevant experience, or that you cannot now find the experience you need to improve your resume.
Think back carefully over every job you’ve ever had, even if it was just for a few weeks as a summer job while you were in school. Any job that is customer facing will have given you experience of dealing with the public and communication skills.
A job in an office will have taught you IT skills and perhaps improved your written communication. You need to think about the individual duties of each position you’ve worked and how those skills can relate to the advertised position as a receptionist, rather than just seeing the differences.
So many skills are portable from one career to another, so your resume should highlight these transferable capabilities rather than simply demonstrating a lack of receptionist experience.
The next step is to get out there and find more experience. Any work you can get in a related field is another point in your favor.
Bear in mind that this does not have to be permanent full-time work. Indeed, it doesn’t even need to be paid work. If you have the attitude that the experience is the key to advancing your career, a means to an end, then you may view working unsociable hours or taking a voluntary position as an investment in your own future.
Look for work that is less attractive, and of course you’re way more likely to get the job. It may not be a job you’d want forever, but it could be the perfect way to get that experience you need to get that job you really want later down the line.
Increase your skillset to become more useful
What you lack in experience, you can make up for by offering your employer a wide-ranging skillset.
You can ensure your IT or data entry skills are up to date, but you can also take it a step further and learn some advanced skills. While being competent with software such as Microsoft Office is useful, being an expert user, who can solve complex problems, is invaluable.
You’ll need to be able to use office technology such as phone systems and printers, but if you’ve taken a course that taught you to troubleshoot and fix malfunctioning office gadgets, you’ve got a truly indispensable skill.
Consider the type of receptionist work you’re interested in and think about complementary skills that could give you an advantage. For example, if you’d love to be a hotel receptionist, learning another language could be very useful if the hotel receives a lot of overseas guests.
Or, conversely, you could use your current skills and apply for positions that would make best advantage of them, for example, if you have previous experience of working in the field of medicine, it’s likely you have knowledge and experience that would make you an excellent medical or dental receptionist.
Write attention-grabbing cover letters and have an outstanding resume
A good resume and cover letter can speak volumes, and when you emphasise the skills and experience you do have, it can disguise the fact that you don’t actually have specific experience as a receptionist.
It’s certainly worth putting a lot of time and effort into your resume and cover letter. It’s the first step in the process, and those first impressions count. Without a stand-out resume, you may never get any further, and that would be a shame when you know you’d do an amazing job.
Your resume, and your accompanying cover letter need to speak on your behalf. They’re representing you and they’re incredibly important. Are they doing you justice? Are they good enough?
The requirements and standards for resumes and cover letters change over time, so if it’s been a while since you first created your documents, then it may be time to revisit them and check out the latest trends.
You’ll find plenty of guidance online, and templates you can use to ensure your resume is stylish, modern and easy to read.
Keep it simple and concise, but make sure the most relevant information is easily visible. There’s no knowing how long someone will spend reviewing your resume, and you don’t want your work experience or extra skills overlooked because you included too much information about your personal life or hobbies.
Your application documents also need to be faultless. You won’t get far with a resume riddled with spelling and grammar issues.
